1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to visual characteristics of documents displayed to a observer.
2. Description of Related Art
The expansion of visually intensive web pages on the Internet has encouraged efforts to draw attention to a particular item on display. Such methods have included time-varying visual stimuli, such as flashing or animated icons, or audio stimuli, such as beeps. As users have become more experienced, such stimuli can cause annoyance rather than attraction.
More recent developments have led to more subtle methods for distinguishing a particular item on displayed documents, such as a web page. One such method includes highlighting a particular item with a surrounding block of a color that contrasts with the background as well as with the item. In various exemplary embodiments, the item can be enveloped by an outline in a color that contrasts with the background.
An appropriate color to be used in this method can be confidently selected by a person having experience in graphics arts and sufficient time to make a judicious evaluation based on the characteristics of the background and the item to which attention should be drawn.